Late in the afternoon of April 12(th) , 2016, Rick Harrison died while vacationing on Lizard Isla... more Late in the afternoon of April 12(th) , 2016, Rick Harrison died while vacationing on Lizard Island, Australia, with his wife and lifelong partner Ellen. He was snorkeling and was overcome by a catastrophic event, probably a heart attack. His death was unexpected: few people exuded more vitality and enthusiasm than Rick, and the shock was palpable as the news of his passing traveled around the world through his vast network of students, friends, and colleagues. Along with the shock, and even more deeply felt, was the sense of disbelief and sorrow. As word spread, so did the feeling that our world was suddenly a different, and much emptier, place. The emptiness, of course, is even greater for Ellen and for their beloved daughters, Rebekah and Melissa. We offer our deepest condolences to them and their families. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genetic studies aimed at understanding the origin of species are dominating major scientific jour... more Genetic studies aimed at understanding the origin of species are dominating major scientific journals. In the past decade, genetic tools that were previously available only in model systems have become accessible to investigators working on nearly all species. ...
Speciation has been a major focus of evolutionary biology research in recent years, with many imp... more Speciation has been a major focus of evolutionary biology research in recent years, with many important advances. However, some of the traditional organising principles of the subject area no longer provide a satisfactory framework, such as the classification of speciation mechanisms by geographical context into allopatric, parapatric and sympatry classes. Therefore, we have asked where speciation research should be directed in the coming years. Here, we present a distillation of questions about the mechanisms of speciation, the genetic basis of speciation and the relationship between speciation and diversity. Our list of topics is not exhaustive; rather we aim to promote discussion on research priorities and on the common themes that underlie disparate speciation processes.
Metabolic complications associated with HIV infection and treatment frequently present as a relat... more Metabolic complications associated with HIV infection and treatment frequently present as a relative lack of peripheral adipose tissue associated with dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. In this review we explain the connection between abnormalities of intermediary metabolism, observed either in vitro or in vivo, and this group of metabolic effects. We review molecular mechanisms by which the HIV protease inhibitor (PI) class of drugs may affect the normal stimulatory effect of insulin on glucose and fat storage. We then propose that both chronic inflammation from HIV infection and treatment with some drugs in this class trigger cellular homeostatic stress responses with adverse effects on intermediary metabolism. The physiologic outcome is such that total adipocyte storage capacity is decreased, and the remaining adipocytes resist further fat storage. The excess circulating and dietary lipid metabolites, normally “absorbed” by adipose tissue, are deposited ectopically in lean (mus...
The sequencing of the 12 genomes of members of the genus Drosophila was taken as an opportunity t... more The sequencing of the 12 genomes of members of the genus Drosophila was taken as an opportunity to reevaluate the genetic and physical maps for 11 of the species, in part to aid in the mapping of assembled scaffolds. Here, we present an overview of the importance of cytogenetic maps to Drosophila biology and to the concepts of chromosomal evolution. Physical and genetic markers were used to anchor the genome assembly scaffolds to the polytene chromosomal maps for each species. In addition, a computational approach was used to anchor smaller scaffolds on the basis of the analysis of syntenic blocks. We present the chromosomal map data from each of the 11 sequenced non-Drosophila melanogaster species as a series of sections. Each section reviews the history of the polytene chromosome maps for each species, presents the new polytene chromosome maps, and anchors the genomic scaffolds to the cytological maps using genetic and physical markers. The mapping data agree with Muller's ide...
Abstract Although evidence is mounting that female mating preferences evolve at least in part as ... more Abstract Although evidence is mounting that female mating preferences evolve at least in part as inciden tal (pleiotropic) consequences of alleles favored by natural selection, it is less clear how such pref erences can evolve when they are initially maladaptive, as by ...
Late in the afternoon of April 12(th) , 2016, Rick Harrison died while vacationing on Lizard Isla... more Late in the afternoon of April 12(th) , 2016, Rick Harrison died while vacationing on Lizard Island, Australia, with his wife and lifelong partner Ellen. He was snorkeling and was overcome by a catastrophic event, probably a heart attack. His death was unexpected: few people exuded more vitality and enthusiasm than Rick, and the shock was palpable as the news of his passing traveled around the world through his vast network of students, friends, and colleagues. Along with the shock, and even more deeply felt, was the sense of disbelief and sorrow. As word spread, so did the feeling that our world was suddenly a different, and much emptier, place. The emptiness, of course, is even greater for Ellen and for their beloved daughters, Rebekah and Melissa. We offer our deepest condolences to them and their families. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genetic studies aimed at understanding the origin of species are dominating major scientific jour... more Genetic studies aimed at understanding the origin of species are dominating major scientific journals. In the past decade, genetic tools that were previously available only in model systems have become accessible to investigators working on nearly all species. ...
Speciation has been a major focus of evolutionary biology research in recent years, with many imp... more Speciation has been a major focus of evolutionary biology research in recent years, with many important advances. However, some of the traditional organising principles of the subject area no longer provide a satisfactory framework, such as the classification of speciation mechanisms by geographical context into allopatric, parapatric and sympatry classes. Therefore, we have asked where speciation research should be directed in the coming years. Here, we present a distillation of questions about the mechanisms of speciation, the genetic basis of speciation and the relationship between speciation and diversity. Our list of topics is not exhaustive; rather we aim to promote discussion on research priorities and on the common themes that underlie disparate speciation processes.
Metabolic complications associated with HIV infection and treatment frequently present as a relat... more Metabolic complications associated with HIV infection and treatment frequently present as a relative lack of peripheral adipose tissue associated with dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. In this review we explain the connection between abnormalities of intermediary metabolism, observed either in vitro or in vivo, and this group of metabolic effects. We review molecular mechanisms by which the HIV protease inhibitor (PI) class of drugs may affect the normal stimulatory effect of insulin on glucose and fat storage. We then propose that both chronic inflammation from HIV infection and treatment with some drugs in this class trigger cellular homeostatic stress responses with adverse effects on intermediary metabolism. The physiologic outcome is such that total adipocyte storage capacity is decreased, and the remaining adipocytes resist further fat storage. The excess circulating and dietary lipid metabolites, normally “absorbed” by adipose tissue, are deposited ectopically in lean (mus...
The sequencing of the 12 genomes of members of the genus Drosophila was taken as an opportunity t... more The sequencing of the 12 genomes of members of the genus Drosophila was taken as an opportunity to reevaluate the genetic and physical maps for 11 of the species, in part to aid in the mapping of assembled scaffolds. Here, we present an overview of the importance of cytogenetic maps to Drosophila biology and to the concepts of chromosomal evolution. Physical and genetic markers were used to anchor the genome assembly scaffolds to the polytene chromosomal maps for each species. In addition, a computational approach was used to anchor smaller scaffolds on the basis of the analysis of syntenic blocks. We present the chromosomal map data from each of the 11 sequenced non-Drosophila melanogaster species as a series of sections. Each section reviews the history of the polytene chromosome maps for each species, presents the new polytene chromosome maps, and anchors the genomic scaffolds to the cytological maps using genetic and physical markers. The mapping data agree with Muller's ide...
Abstract Although evidence is mounting that female mating preferences evolve at least in part as ... more Abstract Although evidence is mounting that female mating preferences evolve at least in part as inciden tal (pleiotropic) consequences of alleles favored by natural selection, it is less clear how such pref erences can evolve when they are initially maladaptive, as by ...
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